Recyclable air filter

ABSTRACT

An air filter comprising an elastomeric flange member and a filter member mounted therein. The flange member has opposing ends and sides that define a central opening and protruding members integrally formed with the flange member and extending therefrom. The protruding members have opposed inwardly facing faces. The filter member has filter ends and sides and the filter sides are attached to the opposed faces in an insert molding process or via bonding of the filter sides to the respective faces.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/404,976, filed Aug. 21, 2002, entitled AIR FILTER.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates generally to filters and morespecifically to air filters employed in automotive or other internalcombustion engines.

[0004] Use of air filters in internal combustion engines is well known.In the past, air filters have incorporated metal frames to which apleated filter member was attached. The use of a metal or rigid plasticframe for such a filter makes the recycling of such filters difficultand thus undesirable. More recently, efforts have been made to producefilters which may be readily recycled. One such filter is disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,674,302. This filter is fabricated wholly of a non-wovensynthetic fiber material which is compressed around the edges during themanufacturing process to form a structural frame member. While thisfilter advantageously avoids the use of metal components for asurrounding structural member, the fabrication technique requiresexpensive and specialized manufacturing equipment. It would therefore bedesirable to have a technique for producing a filter which could bereadily recycled and a filter produced by such a technique that does notnecessitate the use of highly specialized manufacturing equipment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In accordance with the present invention an improved air filterfor use in automotive or other internal combustion engines is disclosed.The filter comprises a pleated filter member which is retained within aflange having protruding members extending therefrom that have end facesto which the pleated filter member is bonded or otherwise attached. Thepleated filter member may be insert molded with the flange to form thecompleted air filter assembly. The filter medium is preferably made of anon-woven synthetic fiber material such as a non-woven PE fabric orcellulose or other fibers chemically or physically bonded to providefiltration. The flange and protruding members are preferably integrallyformed of a thermoplastic elastomer such as a flexible PVC or olefin, apolyester, a urethane or a styrene material.

[0006] Since no metal or rigid plastic components are employed in theconstruction of the filter, the filter may be readily recycled.

[0007] Other aspects, features and advantages of the presently disclosedair filter and method for producing the same will be apparent from thedetailed description of the invention that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0008] The application will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of the invention in conjunction with thedrawing of which:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air filter in accordance withthe present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2a is a top perspective view of a frame member employedwithin the air filter depicted in FIG. 1; and

[0011]FIG. 2b is a bottom perspective view of the frame member depictedin the air filter of FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pleated filter member employedin the air filter of FIG. 1; and

[0013]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of another embodiment of an air filterin accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/404,976, filed Aug. 21, 2002and titled AIR FILTER, is incorporated herein by reference.

[0015] In accordance with the present invention, an improved air filteris disclosed that may be readily manufactured using conventionalmanufacturing techniques. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the air filter 10comprises an elastomeric flange 12 having protruding members 14extending therefrom that have inwardly facing faces 16 to which a filtermedium 18 is attached via insert molding, bonding, or any other suitabletechnique for fixing the pleated filter member to the faces of thestructural flange. The flange 12 includes opposing sides 12 a, 12 b andopposing ends 12 c, 12 d. The protruding members 14 to which the filtermember 18 is attached are molded integrally with the flange 12.

[0016] The flange 12 and integral protruding members 14 are preferablyfabricated of a flexible PVC, ethylene vinylacetate copolymer (EVA), aPVC thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), an olefin, polyester, urethane orstyrene TPE or any suitable non-metallic material. In one embodiment,the flange 12 defines a central opening in which the filter medium 18 isdisposed. The protruding members 14 that are integrally formed with theflange 12, in one embodiment, comprise generally triangular members thatextend above and below a plane through the flange 12 and have generallytriangular inwardly facing faces 16. By molding the protruding members14 so as to provide faces only where needed to attach the sides of thefilter medium 18 it is possible to reduce the volume of elastomer neededto form the flange 12 and thereby reduce the cost of the final airfilter 10 while maximizing efficient air flow over the filter medium 18.Opposing ends of the flange 12 may include a downwardly extending member20 to which the filter medium 18 is attached.

[0017] While the air filter 10 depicted in FIGS. 1-3 comprises agenerally rectangular air filter, it should be recognized that airfilters in accordance with the present invention having varying formfactors may be constructed. For example, as depicted in FIG. 4, the airfilter 30 includes a five sided flange 32 having opposing side members32 a, 32 b, opposing end members 32 c, 32 d and a side member 32e thatextends between the side member 32 b and the end member 32 d. A filtermember 34 is mounted to faces 36 or protruding members 38 as discussedabove with respect to FIGS. 13. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4,the end member 32 d is shorter than the end member 32 c and the sidemember 32 b is shorter than the side member 32 a. The overall sidemember for the side opposing side member 32 a is composed of the sidemember 32 b and the angled side member 32 e which extends from one endof side member 32 b to one end of side member 32 d. Thus, it should beappreciated that air filters in accordance with the present inventionmay be provided with differing form factors to accomodate differentgeometric requirements.

[0018] The filter medium 18, 34 preferably comprises a pleated filtermember which is retained within the respective flange 12, 32. The filtermedium 18, 34 is preferably made of a non-woven synthetic fiber materialsuch as non-woven PE fabric or cellulose, a recyclable thermoplasticmaterial, or any other fibers chemically or physically bonded to provideair filtration. Since the air filter 10, 30 employs no metal components,it may be readily recycled.

[0019] The flange 12 may include a recess 22 respectively in one surfacethereof to mate with a ridge within a cooperative air filter housing toform an air seal at the periphery of the air filter. A similar recess(not visible) may be provided in the five sided flange 32 depicted inFIG. 4. Thus, the flange 12 may function as a seal in cooperation withthe filter housing without any additional sealing member(s) although itshould be recognized that an additional sealing member may be employed.

[0020] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art thatmodifications to and variations of the above described air filter may bemade without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein.Accordingly the invention should not be viewed as limited except as bythe scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air filter comprising: an elastomeric flangemember having opposing ends and sides defining a central opening, saidflange member having inwardly facing opposed faces integrally formedwith sides of said flange member; and a filter element having opposingends and sides, said filter element disposed in said central openingwith opposing sides of said filter member attached to said opposed facesof said flange member.
 2. The air filter of claim 1 wherein said filtermember comprises a pleated filter member.
 3. The air filter of claim 1wherein said filter member comprises a recyclable thermoplasticmaterial.
 4. The air filter of claim 1 wherein said filter membercomprises a non-woven synthetic fiber.
 5. The air filter of claim 4wherein said non-woven synthetic fiber comprises PE fabric.
 6. The airfilter of claim 4 wherein said non-woven synthetic fiber comprisescellulose.
 7. The air filter of claim 1 wherein said flange membercomprises a thermoplastic elastomer.
 8. The air filter of claim 7wherein said thermoplastic elastomer comprises a polyvinylchloride. 9.The air filter of claim 7 wherein said thermoplastic elastomer comprisesan olephin.
 10. The air filter of claim 7 wherein said thermoplasticelastomer comprises a polyester.
 11. The air filter of claim 7 whereinsaid thermoplastic elastomer comprises a urethane.
 12. The air filter ofclaim 7 wherein said thermoplastic elastomer comprises a styrene. 13.The air filter of claim 1 wherein said flange in generally rectangular.14. The air filter of claim 1 wherein one of said ends of said flange islonger than the opposing end of said flange.
 15. The air filter of claim1 wherein said filter element comprises a pleated filter element, saidfaces are generally triangular surfaces extending above and below aplane through said flange, said faces are located so as to confront endsof pleats of said pleated filter element when said filter element isdisposed within said central opening.
 16. The air filter of claim 1further including a mounting member extending from said flange ends,wherein said filter member has opposing ends mounted to said flangeends.
 17. The air filter of claim 1 wherein said flange includes asealing portion that is configured to establish a seal when said sealingportion is disposed in abutting contact with a cooperative member of anassociated air filter housing.
 18. A method for forming an air filtercomprising the steps of: molding a flange member having opposing endsand sides and opposed inwardly facing faces integrally formed withrespective sides of said flange member, said flange member defining acentral opening; said mounting a filter element having filter elementends and sides within the central opening such that said filter elementsides are mounted to said opposing faces of said flange member.
 19. Themethod of claim 18 wherein said mounting step includes the step ofbonding said opposing sides of said filter element to said opposingfaces of said flange member.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein saidmolding and mounting steps comprise the step of insert molding saidfilter member with said flange member such that said sides of saidfilter member are embedded within said faces of said flange member. 21.The method of claim 18 wherein said flange member includes end membersintegrally formed with and extending from said ends of said flangemember and said mounting step includes the step of attaching saidopposing ends of said filter member to respective end members.